No Junk Food Allowed!

Starting September 15th I will be the English teacher for 98 4th grade girls at an all girls school down the street from me. They are split into three classes and I teach each class for about an hour and twenty minutes a day. Today at my training I learned that the school has a "No Junk Food Policy" and is quite strict about enforcing it. The students bring their lunches each day and are not allowed to bring any sort of soda or sweets. This includes anything sweet, even a piece of banana bread with chocolate chips in it. There is a canteen students can buy food at but it only sells sandwiches and fresh fruits and veggies. Those of you who have taught at schools in the states or have kids who attend them should understand why this is blog worthy. Pretty impressive I think. It sure would have made my job teaching nutrition the last three years easier if the students hadn't left my class to go be served greasy pizza with ranch dressing, french fries and a cookie from the cafeteria.

Ramadan Kareem...not so much!

Though this may be a coincidence I have noticed a lot more hostility in the past two weeks. To be more exact, starting the day after Ramadan began. Since I have moved here in April I have never seen any physical fights. Every now and again I'd witness a shouting match but I have been told it is very rare for Arabs to actually touch each other or have it escalate to anything further.

The day after Ramadan began I heard a very loud altercation outside my window. There were groups of people watching and it struck me as unusual. Then about a week ago I saw two grown men near a shop arguing and start to grab each other and more or less wrestle. To add to that, yesterday I saw two men yelling and pushing each other and I am sure it would have gotten worse if two other men hadn't separated them and the police intervened.

As I said earlier this may be a coincidence but I have a feeling the lack of water on 100 degree days, the drastically dropping blood sugar levels and the sudden withdrawal from caffeine and cigarettes may be to blame.

Ramadan Kareem

As I am sitting here writing this blog the sun is begining to go down. In about 15 minutes the whole city will hear over loud speakers from the many Mosques scattered around, the signal that it is ok to break your daily fast. It is now the 6th day of Ramadan. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and is a very holy time for Muslims. During the 30 days of Ramadan Muslims refrain from eating, drinking and any sexual activities from sunrise to sunset. The 30 days of fasting are meant to build empathy and compassion for those who are forced to go without food and drink and give Muslims extra time to pray and thank Allah (God) for all their blessings. It is believed that the first verses of the Qur'an were revealed to the Prophet Muhammad at this time of the year.

One of the interesting things about Ramadan is that the start date is determined by the moon and moves backwards about 11 days each year which means that Ramadan will be during the summer months for the next 10 years or so. It has been in the upper 90's every day here and well into the 100's in other parts of the middle east, and when it says no drinking, that is including water. There are a few things that shift during the month of Ramadan to make it a little easier on the people who choose to fast. For one, eating, drinking or smoking in public is against the law. I was told if you are caught you get thrown in jail for the remaining days of Ramadan. (I was told they are lenient on expats, which is good because I accidently ate a nut in the parking lot at Safeway the other day) Also, work ends at 3 so people can go home and rest, and there aren't a whole lot of expectations for productivity at work. After a long day of fasting comes the Iftar which is the meal that breaks the fast and is usually a large meal shared with friends, family and the community. After sundown people can eat, drink and smoke as much as they want to until sunrise.

Personally I like the concept of Ramadan. It is a time to be thankful for what you have, build compassion for those who are less fortunate and spend time with family and friends. I do question if not drinking water all day is a great idea for people who have to work outside in 115 degree weather, but who am I to say?

Kareem means generous, so Ramadan Kareem basically means "have a Generous Ramadan". This is found written all over town. One year Ramadan was near Christmas time so people started putting up lights and have continued to do so, even though it is the middle of summer now.

Misogyny or Chauvinism?

For me, it is virtually impossible to leave my apartment without some sort of unwanted attention. A typical walk down the street gets me many stares. And I am not talking about a guy looking at me for a second or two. I am talking about a complete up and down stare, in which they clearly are not trying to hide it. Brian has colorfully named it "eye fucking". Many times it is followed by a noise, one of which sounds like what you do to call a cat over to you. The cat call is clearly their favorite as I hear it constantly. I have had cars full of men hang out the window and yell at me as they drive by. The other day a guy in his car asked if he could walk with me. I said "no" and he then followed me down the road, talking to me as he drove. He even acted offended that I was being rude to him as he was trying to make small talk with me. I get attention from the young and the old no matter what part of town I walk in and no matter what I am wearing.

Though I was a bit anxious about this in the beginning, I feel I have adjusted rather well. I will say that it is very annoying and degrading at times, but I have NEVER felt unsafe or threatened. I did however have an experience the other day that still irritates me if I think about it. Brian and I went to a health club down the street to look into possibly joining. I had been there once and they told me I could bring Brian by to check out the facilities and give it a try. When I explained to the gentleman at the front desk why we were there he told me we had to each pay 25 JD's (35 USD). I politely explained to him what the other guy told me last week and why we were there. He was quite rude, had a scowl on his face and told me "NO". After about 5 solid minutes of this, Brian says to him, "I'd really like to check the place out", and all of a sudden the guys entire demeanor changed. He smiled and told Brian, "Yes sir, as you wish", and handed us each a towel. As I walked away I was totally confused as to what just happened. I still am not sure which to call it, misogyny or chauvinism, but clearly I was not respected as an equal to my male companion.